On August 18th World Vets released a rehabilitated harbor seal pup back to his natural environment of the Puget Sound after two months of rehabilitation. In June the seal pup was abandoned by its mother and was too young to survive on his own. Human interaction was involved in this pup being abandoned in a busy marina. After several days of observation in hopes of the mom returning, it was determined that the pup was on his own and was unlikely to survive without intervention.
The initial report came in to Cascadia Research Collective who monitored and then picked up the pup which was then transported to World Vets Marine Mammal Urgent Care Center. World Vets provided initial treatments and stabilization services before transporting the pup to a rehab center in the San Juan Islands. After spending two months at Wolf Hollow Rehabilitation Center, the pup was heathy enough to be returned to the wild. World Vets transported the seal and it released it at seal haul out near where he had been originally picked up.
This harbor seal pup has a second chance at life thanks to our supporters who make this work possible and the collaborative efforts of NOAA’s West Coast Marine Mammal Stranding Network, of which World Vets is proud to be a member. World Vets provides around the clock on-call services for the West Coast Marine Mammal Stranding Network to respond to sick, injured and stranded marine mammals throughout the state. Our marine mammal urgent care center has been busy throughout the season helping pups like this one.
Please remember to stay back 100 yards from marine mammals. If you see an injured, sick or stranded marine mammal, please do not approach it. Report strandings to the West Coast Marine Mammal Stranding Hotline at 1-866-767-6114.
